Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to methods and systems for managing a print-setting user interface.
Description of the Related Art
Microsoft produces an operating system that provides a printer driver that includes a printer extension. The printer extension allows a printer-extension application to a print-setting user interface (UI) for the printer driver. However, according to the architecture of the printer driver, only one printer-extension application is allowed to be registered with the printer-driver identification (ID). In other words, the print-setting UI provided by the printer-extension application of a specific printer driver is the same across all applications and devices.
For example, the print-setting UI for a document-viewer application (e.g., Microsoft Word), which often does not involve many color adjustments, is the same as for a photo-printing application (e.g., Adobe® Photoshop®), which may involve many color adjustments to enhance the appearance of an image to be printed. Thus, the user may need to discover and adjust the print settings accordingly.
Additionally, the print-setting UI would appear the same irrespective of the client device's capabilities, such as screen size and available input devices. For example, the print-setting UI for a desktop computing device will be the same as that for a portable computing device (e.g., tablet or smartphone), which is generally provided with a smaller display than a desktop computing device. However, viewing the same print-setting UI as the desktop computing device on a small display of a portable computing device is difficult and inconvenient for the user, for example when checking print preferences. Further, for example, when print preferences are set via the print-setting UI on a desktop computing device, a mouse may be used as an input device for setting print preferences. The user scrolls up and down by clicking on the scroll bar and by clicking on the options to set the print preferences. However, when setting print preferences via the print-setting UI of a desktop computing device on a mobile computing device with a touch-screen input capability, it may be difficult for a user to manipulate the scroll bar via a touchscreen. Therefore, it may result in a poor printing experience for the user.